Xenoblade 2: A Forbidden Love
by TheTrueMonado
Summary: {Spoilers for Chapter 7}What if events played out differntly between Rex and Nia. What happens if Rex decided to be with Nia when she revealed herself to be a blade. What about Pyra and Mythra. How does Rex feel with all these conflicting feelings of love,guilt, and confusion.
1. Chapter 1

"I am burdened no longer. Not by my past, not by Jin. I am Finally free!"

"A Blade?...What the-"

"I am no longer afraid. This is who I am, Rex! What's the point in living if I have to hide? Thank You for helping me see. I love you, Rex."

"Wha-?!"

With that the shadowy figures began to rush at the two. Nia performed a jump flip over Rex and in between him and the charging silhouettes. With that she summoned her blade weapon. A blade of blue energy with vines wrapping up around it. Her core crystal of the shape of a diamond and colors of blue and violet on the hilt. She slashed the sword at her enemies as water shot from the blade. It instantly destroyed her enemies. With this act her allies were inspired, Zeke gained new strength against his enemies as he attacked his foe.

"Come on then, who wants a piece?" He shouted.

Tora and Poppi continued to fight off their foe slowly being pushed back. Morag also continued her assault, her duel blades bouncing off her foes Blade. Then all at once Both Zeke's, Tora's, and Morag's foes all ducked and ran towards Nia and Dromarch. Nia and Dromarch didn't back down, they charged right back at their foes, weapons in tow. Nia spun between her foes defending attacks from multiple fronts. She grew weaker the longer she went on…

"Hnng, there really isn't much ether here…" Nia struggled to say holding her core crystal on her chest. More silhouettes continued to appear and began to rush at Nia. Nia tried to stand but she collapsed onto the ground unable to stand any longer. At that moment the figure swung his blade. Nia flinched back expecting the worst. But it never came. Metal classed as Nia opened her eyes confused. There stood Rex slashing his dual scythes.

"Rex…"

"Nia, I love you too!"

"Huh"

"I love you...and all you guys! So let's do this, together!"

"Hmph...Bwahaha! That's just like you! It's all I could ask for." Nia Stood up and extended her blade outward to Rex. "Let's give em hell!"

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

With their combined power Rex and Nia charged at their foes, Rex attacking while Nia used her blade power to protect him from attacks he was unable to block himself. Two more charged at them only to be destroyed by lighting and fire. In the distance you could Zeke and Morag recovering from the attack they just did. Then another charged at Rex and Nia only to be destroyed by one of Tora's attack. Rex then clashed swords with one of the figures and they began to talk. Nia was unable to hear what they were saying through all the action, only seeing the swords clash against each other. Then everything became bright and the figures disappeared.

"Rex! Rex! What happened? You haven't said anything since the ghost disappeared.

"Yeah I'm fine. Never better!" Rex walked up and the third sword was revealed. As Rex grabbed it and made a pose, it began to disappear. The party was shocked. They had been through so much to get that sword only for it to disappear. They speculated that it had been down there just to long but Rex assured them that everything was ok. He said he knew what he had to do. The party made their way out of the tomb and back into Fonsett Village. There they would stay the night before the headed out for Cliffs of Moytha the next day.

* * *

Corinne was kind enough to allow everyone to stay at her home for the night. The whole party had many questions for Nia, now that they knew she was a blade. Nia was embarrassed by all the attention she was getting. She had hid this form of hers for so long and now that she had all these eyes on her it was almost enough to go back to her driver form. But she had made her call. She was no longer going to hid who she was, she would do it for Rex. Her eyes sank a little.

'Rex loves Pyra and Mythra' Nia thought. But she wasn't going to give in to her fears. 'I have a long road ahead of myself now. I'll stay by his side until the end' Nia perked up with the motivation she had given to herself.

He sat there confused. Nia said she loved him. Rex sat in silence, confused at the feelings he felt. Yeah he said he loved her but in a way that meant something different. He left her without an answer. Rex knew that was wrong but yet he still didn't approach her about it. 'I should talk to her, but what would I even say'

The evening went on and there was a lot of tension in the air. It had nothing to do with Nia being a blade, everyone welcomed her true form with arms open. No the tension was mostly between Rex and Nia. Nia had confessed to Rex and Rex had yet to give her a real answer. Morag and Zeke sat across from each other at the campfire they had set up outside away from the house.

"Maybe you should talk to Rex, we can't go into a battle the way things are, Zeke." Morag explained as Zeke nodded his head in agreement.

"The kid already had his hands full choosing between Pyra and Mythra, now that Nia has entered the mix though, I'm sure he doesn't know how to feel." Zeke stated.

"Rex is a kid soul, he won't want to hurt any of them. I doubt he has even considered his own feelings and is instead trying to keep anyone from getting hurt." Morag stated, feeling the weight of her words.

"One thing is for sure, things need to happen or else things could go south in the heat of battle."

* * *

Rex had settled on top of the cliff where he had once gone cloud jumping into the cloud sea below as a child. He stared far off into the endless sea of clouds as the sun sank below siad clouds. In the distance Nia slowly walked up holding her left arm with her right embarrassed.

"Nia…" Rex whispered. Nia took a step back not expecting him to acknowledge her, to not even realize she was there. "I wish I could tell you how I feel." Rex continued to whisper. Nia's eyes widened. "I love Nia, but I can't tell her...I have no right…" It was at this time Nia realised, Rex didn't actually realise that Nia was standing right there. "I've had these feeling buried deep down and to know that she loves me too, I don't know what to do. Pyra gave half her life to save mine, for me to turn around and tell her that I love Nia and not her." Nia was shocked. The man she loved, loved her back. But was trapped.

"Rex…"

"Waahh, Nia!" Rex was taken off guard.

"I heard everything Rex…"

"I don't know what to do Nia...I've had these feelings for awhile now. I couldn't tell you when I developed them, I don't fully understand them, all I know is that I've longed for you for a long time."

"Rex…" Nia sat down next to Rex over the cliff. "It's pretty high up ain't it. Can't believe em kids jump off from here"

"It's not so bad, it's kind of fun" Rex stood up. "Give me your hand" Rex reached out his hand to her. Nia grabbed his hand and pulled herself up.

"Rex?"

"Do you trust me Nia"

"Of course I do Rex, more than anyone else"

"Good" Rex had a mischievous grin appear on his face. "We're gonna go cloud jumping."

"Rex...I think I'm um gonna p...pass"

"To Late!" With that Rex pulled Nia off the cliff with him and the plummeted to the cloud sea below. Rex and Nia's heads popped up from the clouds.

"Rex why would you do that!"

"Because Nia, I love you!"

"Wha-"

"This is just the first step, or I guess leap. I don't know how we'll make it work but it doesn't matter. I'll find away for you"

"Rex...I love you to" Rex and Nia swam to the shore before the continued their conversation. "I don't really know how this works though, does this make us a couple now or is there more to it"

"I'm not sure, I guess so…"

"Maybe we should keep it under wraps from the others for awhile. Just until we've got things sorted out."

"I think that's a good idea, let's head back to Fonsett" Rex extended his hand to Nia and she grabbed it tightly. The two head back ready for the upcoming challenges that stood in their way.

* * *

This is a story I would like to continue so if you guys are interested be sure to follow the story and write a review telling me you want more of this.


	2. Chapter 2

Guilt is a complex emotion. Sometimes it's justified by a wrongdoing. Other times you feel it even though you have yet to do anything wrong. Sometimes you should feel it but yet you don't. Guilt is a complex emotion.

* * *

The party made their way up and down the cliffs of Morytha. There were many tough monsters laid about. Even so, the party fought in perfect unison, Rex and Nia more than anyone else. Their affinity was maxed out almost from the start of the battle. Maybe this was because of the new feelings they now recognized for each other. This inspired the whole party to keep pressing forward.

The party made their way into something that almost resembled an abandoned temple of some sort. Torches were lit all around the walls and there stood in the center of the room. A strong, muscular, dressed in black blade. There lied on his chest, a purple core crystal that was completed. It was clear that he had become complete. There stood Malos.

"You're Finally here. I've been expecting you." Malos smirked.

"Malos" Nia's face expressed only anger.

"Your core crystal...So you finally gave up your little human act. Are you looking for a place to belong, or are you a fickle child who doesn't know what she wants?"

"Pf…" Nia grew annoyed.

"Where's Pyra?" Rex asked

"Hell if I know. She's probably dead by now."

"I'm alive, she's alive" Rex yelled determined. Nia almost flinched hearing him mention his connection to Pyra. Maybe out of jealousy. Nia felt almost immediately guilty.

"Nia...You flinched, could it be, that you have feelings for the pipsqueak." Malos' grin grew wide."You truly are a fool. To fall for a driver who once had one of the strongest of blades. How would you compare"

"Shut up! Leave Nia alone and take us to Pyra!" Zeke stepped forward.

"If you want what's left of her fine. I'm not gonna waste my time on you worthless runts." Malos then stepped back into a dark void and disappeared from the scene.

"Nia, don't let him get to you ok" Rex turned to Nia.

"Rex…" Nia stared into his eyes.

"Nia if you're ok then we must keep moving" Brighid grabbed onto Nia's shoulder as she spoke.

"Let's keep moving, Pyra needs us!" Nia assured.

With that the party continued on their way. The monsters were relentless but at least they were able to save their strength and avoid a fight with Malos for now. But the lingering thought of how they would deal with Jin when the eventually run into him. The party walked down a long straight path. Rex and Nia trailed in the back behind everyone else.

"Nia?"

"What'cha need Rex, now is hardly the time for chit chat."

"I just needed to make sure you're ok, we're partners after all, in more ways than one."

"I don't know, just being compared to Pyra made me feel self conscious. She's strong, beautiful, and caring, she's also one of me best friends, yet here we are together while she's in the hands of the enemy.."

"Nia, when did you start worrying about things like that. Maybe us getting together while she was captured was wrong...But...that doesn't matter because I love you Nia. Whether it was now or later it would have happened, so we can't think like that."

"Have you thought about how you'll tell her Rex?"

"I haven't even thought about how to the others…"

"Way to take responsibility" Nia chuckled as she spoke. Rex smiled, he loved this side of her. When Nia let out her more playful attitude.

* * *

In the distance you could see a large plateau with several levels. The platform itself was clearly very old. But this was the place seen in Rex's vision. The party ran as fast as they could. There stood Jin, dressed in his black attire that he revealed back in Tantal. Behind him stood two artificial blades. Between the two blades stood Pyra being supported by them.

"Let her go Jin!" Rex was clearly angry.

"Masterpon, those artificial blades from before." Poppi explained to Tora.

"Poppi correct, those bad artificial blades that attack Tora and and friends." Tora explained as he stepped into a battle stance. Malos walked out from around the corner.

"It's to bad, you've all already missed the big show. We've already got everything we need from her. It's too bad, you came all this way for nothing."

"Malos you-" Nia tried to speak but was cut off.

"You're the biggest shame of them all. We let you join Torna because we thought you were different. You should know better than anyone what the humans are capable. As an Aegis, it is my duty to erase them. You could have been apart of it, but you chose to become a mindless slave to the humans!"

"Why don't you SHUT UP!" Rex charged in and slashed at Malos. Malos had little time to react before Jin jumped in and guarded the attack. Rex was thrown back and landed next to Nia.

"It never had to be this way, if you had never awakened the Aegis then we wouldn't be here." Jin stepped forward. "We have everything we need from her, so take her." Jin signaled the two artificial blades holding up Pyra and they tossed her into the air.

"I'm sorry Jin but I disagree." With that malos raised his sword and a beam shot from his blade. It landed dead center into the middle of Pyra's core crystal and she dropped to the ground.

"PYRA!" Rex ran to Pyra and caught her before the ground. As she landed into Rex's arms everything went white for him. He stood in a giant room.

* * *

The room was made completely made out of metal. There ahead of him stood a large mechanical body, and before it stood Pyra and Mythra.

"Rex.."

"Rex, we're sorry…"

"Pyra, Mythra…But, y-you were just shot..I don't understand."

"Rex, where we are now...isn't real. This is merely a memory." Pyra explained

"Our life is at its end. Our core crystal has been destroyed. As we speak the all the energy left is being released as ether into the atmosphere."

"...No…" Rex fell to his knees as the tears began to stream out of his eyes. Pyra walked over and knelt next to him.

"Rex, there's only a little bit of energy left in your half of the core crystal. You need to take what's left of our to survive."Pyra tried to explain, tears were welling up in her eyes. Mythra then walked on over to the two.

"Jin and Malos will still be there when you get back. With our half of the core crystal, you'll have temporary control of Siren. You can use that to fight off Malos and Jin." Mythra explained. Rex continued to cry as he gripped his chest. The crystal on his chest began to expand as the ones on the two girls' chest shrank until there was nothing left.

"No Pyra...Mythra...Don't leave me!"

"Take good care of Nia ok Rex. We know you love her…" Mythra said with a heavy heart.

"Wha-"

"Rex...up until now our lives were connected. We knew you're feelings before you did, haha" Pyra had a bitter smile. The two girls began to fade away with the whole room.

"Goodbye Rex, we'll always love you…" The girls spoke together as the faded away.

"NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo….." Rex tried to run up and grab them but they were already gone. With that what was left of the world he was in faded away.

* * *

Pyra's lifeless body faded away from Rex's arms. The whole party stood there motionless. Rex stood up as the entire core crystal appeared on his chest. He grabbed it and lifted it in front of him. The tears in his eyes on intensified as he screamed. From the crystal he held he formed a crystal sword. It was the third Aegis sword.

"Siren!" Rex yelled as he raised the sword into the air. He swung it down and a giant particle ray followed. Jin easily blocked the attack.

"How is he doing this! You little shit!" Malos grew angry at Rex's control of Siren. The party itself stood there in shock. The lost of their friend as well as Rex's control of Siren.

"You truly are a fool. I told you, I can manipulate the ether particles in the air., Yet you try this same attack again."

"It's only a distraction…"Rex explained.

"Wha-" Both Jin and Malos were confused.

"So I could do this!" His tears only intensified as a second blast came firing down but this time it was aimed at something else. Out in the distance Torna's ship was hit with a direct blast. Then a third blast came down between the party and Jin and Malos. Rex turned around as the blade disappeared.

"We need to leave, Now!" Rex choked on his words as he spoke but the party understood. With heavy hearts the ran as fast as they could away. Malos tried to follow them but Jin stopped him.

"Let them go, we have what we need...We need to get back to the ship."

"Pft...Fine"

* * *

On board their ship sailing directly away from the world tree, the party was completely silent. Not a single one of them wasn't in tears at the deaths of their two friends. Rex separated himself from the party settling in a different room on the ship. They had failed, they didn't even put up a fight. They were completely destroyed and they never even fought them. They had simply ran away.

"What do we do now…" Zeke broke the silence

"I don't even know my prince" Pandoria was trying to hold back her tears.

"With the power of that blast we can at least take solace in the fact that ship of thiers isn't going to be making the trek to the world tree anytime soon." Morag tried stay positive.

"What of master Rex…" Dromarch chimed in.

"I always thought if anything were to happen to Pyra or Mythra, Rex would follow suite.." Nia asked.

"Core crystal in Rex Rex's chest was complete and popped out." Tora commented.

"Perhaps she gave him the rest of her life force before she died?" Dromarch said questionable.

"Whatever the reason, let's be glad we didn't lose him to. Brighid sighed. The party nodded in agreement and fell back into silence. What was left to do. What could they do. Without the power of the Aegis how would they be able to fight Jin and Malos. Only time will tell.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed. The reason this chapter came out so soon after the last one is because I had an extended weekend. You can expect it to be a few days before chapter 3 comes out but hopefully it will be out by late Wednesday, Thursday the latest hopefully. Make sure to leave a review so I know you guys are still enjoying the story.


	3. Chapter 3

Rain slowly trickled down above the cloud sea, until increasing its speed as it slammed against the titan ship the crew found themselves in. Rex sat alone. His face buried in his knees that he had pulled up to his chest. The tears had faded and now he sat there, longing to cry but unable to. He promised her. He promised to take her to Elysium. He promised to protect her. The downpour that enveloped all sound was the only thing that kept him from screaming out in anguish.

The party next door was in no better shape. Each one of them simply held their heads down. No one could utter the urge to break the silence but they all wanted to.

"This ain't right, we were supposed to save her and make our way up the blasted tree." Zeke stood up in frustration.

"My prince maybe you should settle down…" Pandoria chimed in.

"Tora agree with Zeke, this *sniff* isn't fair" Tora quietly added.

"Would Masterpon like Poppi to activate comfort mode…" Poppi asked.

"Yes pwease…"

"Poppi to sad too" Poppi started crying again as she jumped onto Tora squeezing him.

"What of our good chap, he shouldn't be grieving alone."

"Perhaps one of us should go to him, Nia you're his blade are you not, maybe it be best if you went…" Brighid suggested.

"I...I couldn't face him right now…"

"Very well, then I shall go in your place." Morag stood up and made her way to the door to the next room. "Wish me luck" Morag opened the door and made her way into the dark room. Rex simply sat there huddled up along the wall. Morag closed the door behind herself and slowly walked towards Rex.

"I should've killed them. Killed em both." Rex struggled to speak. "I chose to run...I ran away… I should...no...I need to kill them." Rex's fist began to shake.

"Rex…" If we hadn't run when we did, we would've surely lost. You knew that at the time and made a strategical decision." Morag made her way over to Rex and sat down.

"Then why do I feel like I made the wrong choice. Pyra and Mythra are dead and the ones responsible are still out there doing who knows what."

"And we're alive...alive to fight another day. Are friends are gone, and have to live with that. As much as it hurts." Tears began to swell in Morag's eyes as she wrapped her arm around him. "For a boy your age to experience so much loss. It isn't fair... It really isn't"

"I don't regret becoming her...their driver...I never will...I only wish I had been better. To be the driver they deserved. When I spoke to Addam, he told me that I had the power to accept her, them, the power to become their true driver." Rex held out the darken and cracked core. "Who's to say I won't fail again. What if I fail to protect someone else, like you, or Tora, or Zeke….or Nia…" Rex's words hung on Nia's name.

"Rex, what are we to you?"

"You're my friends...even family...I wouldn't want to lose any of you…I love all you guys!"

"What of Nia, what do feel for her, is she merely your blade, a friend, family, a lover?"

"Morag? You?"

"I'm no fool Rex, maybe Tora and Zeke haven't noticed anything but I was once your age. I can read the signs." Morag smirked while giving Rex a good shake. "You feel guilty, don't you? For loving Nia, when you feel you should've loved the Aegis, Pyra and Mythra." The tears began to swell in Rex's eyes again.

"Before she died, *sniff* before they died, they told me they love me, and yet, I couldn't say it back, even though they were dying. The last thing they said…"

"Pyra and Mythra were two very different people. But one thing I know they both would agree with, they wanted you to be happy. I'm willing to bet they knew about Nia,"

"Before I even knew apparently." Rex's face began to show a small smile. "Pyra and Mythra are gone, Vandham is gone, Fan is gone, my Mum and Da are gone…

"Rex…"

"No more, I'm tired of being to weak. I'll get stronger, to protect what I still have!" Rex stretched out his legs. "I won't ever get over their deaths, but I have to keep moving. Thank you Morag, for coming to talk to me."

"Are you ready to rejoin the others?"

"Just give me a few minutes. I just have one last thing I need to figure out then I'll join you guys."

"Alright I'll see you soon." Morag stood up and walked over to the door and placed her hand on then knob. "Rex, you should talk to Nia soon." With that Morag went out the door. When she appeared from the door the remaining party all stared in anticipation.

"How's our chum, did the mighty flamebringer get through to him?" Zeke asked half jokingly only to get a slap to the back of the Head by Pandoria.

"Now is not the time my prince!"

"Sheesh Pandy, it was only a joke." Zeke slumped into his seat.

"Rex will be fine. He will be joining us shortly." Morag sat down next to her mighty flame blade.

"That's good." Nia looked almost ashamed hearing the good news. 'I'm supposed to be his partner, yet I couldn't face him.' Nia thought to herself. As she finished her though Rex opened up the door from the room from which he once was. His eyes were noticeably red due to the constant tears he had shed. Rex took in a deep breath.

"Pyra and Mythra are dead. There's nothing that we can do about that. Their core crystal was destroyed." Rex held out the remains of the core crystal as the party gasped. "Jin and Malos have done so many terrible things. They've crossed so many lines...:" the party all began to look down. "Now though, they've attacked us personally. Not just me, but all of us. We're family, and they just took away part of that family." The party all stood up to match Rex. "We're not gonna let them get away with this" Rex stuck his hand out into the middle of the room. One by one each member walked up to Rex and placed their hand or paw for Dromarch into the circle. "Let's do this, Together!"

"YEA!" The groups chants of new determination echoed throughout the ship as the heavy rain continued to fall.

* * *

All the party members had made their way to their respective rooms as they would not reach Mor Ardain for awhile yet. Nia sat by herself in her room. There was a knock on the door. Before she could decide whether to open it the door opened up. Rex walked in and closed the door.

"Rex?!" Nia was surprised to see him, she figured he would have been the first to sleep.

"Nia, can we talk for a bit?"

"U-um, s-sure" Nia was clearly nervous.

"I needed to say something to you, not just for you though, but also for myself." Rex was shaking a little. Nia grew confused as she heard this but became even more nervous. "There's nothing to feel guilty about.

"Wha-" Nia was surprised. She had expected something completely different.

"This has all happened so fast...and maybe I haven't had enough time to sort through my feelings. But, right now all I know is, Pyra's death, wasn't our fault."

"Rex…"

"I made my choice Nia, my feeling didn't kill Pyra, what Morag said, it made me realize this. I thought about it more and my mind didn't change. Nia" Rex knelt down. "I need you in my life, so no matter what I will protect you, I'll get stronger, for you, I'll fight, for you, I'll keep getting back up, for you!"

"Rex *sniff* I love you." Nia jumped onto rex pinning him to the floor. "I don't know if these feelings of guilt are justified or if they truly will ever go away. But I do know one thing. I want you in my life!"

Nia leaned in much to Rex's surprise. It was warm. There was this warm feeling on his lips. This warm, soft feeling. Nia's lips were gently pressing against his as he began to press his lips back. Maybe it wasn't the prettiest kiss, but it was gentle. It was a gentle kiss that they both longer for and needed. They separated and simply stared into each others eyes.

"Rex, can you spend the night with me?"

"Of course Nia, whatever you need, I'll be there."

With that the two settled into the bed. It wasn't a huge bed but it was big enough for the two of them. They snuggled under the covers and embraced in each others presence. The warm embrace of each other was comforting. The rain continued it's harsh attack against the walls of the ship. But even though it hadn't let up. It wasn't as bad as before.

* * *

That's it for chapter 3. A little shorter than the last chapter but I didn't want it to overstay its welcome. Hope you guys are still enjoying it. Make sure to leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

The massive titan ship that the party had become acquainted with slowly docked into the Mor Ardian port. The party made their way off the ship as they looked up at the looming palace above them. Morag temporarily separated from the group to report to his majesty. The current party headed into the city pondering on what to do. The group had stumbled their way towards the exit to the upper level of the titan.

"You want, spar?" Rex asked questionable.

"That's right chum. You said you want to get stronger didn't you?" Zeke responded.

"Yea but…"

"Well training is the way to do it my friend." Zeke stretched out his arm and around his back and grabbed the hilt of the sword. "Now follow me" Zeke had fully grabbed his sword and swung it out to the plains. "We shall spar there." Rex and the rest of the party followed Zeke. "Ready yourself chum"

"Nia, you ready for this!" Rex drew out Nia's blade weapon.

"Here I come, Ready or Gormotti!" Nia extended her arm to transfer ether to the blade. Rex grew into a battle stance.

"Here we go, Pandoria!" Zeke swung his blade as blue energy shot out from the blade. Zeke charged at Rex. "ULTRA LIGHTNING FURY SLASH!" Zeke began to slash at Rex. Rex was barely able to block the attacks, and was pushed back quite a bit.

"Now it's our turn." Rex slammed his blade into the ground. "WATER FLOWER!" Water encircled Zeke and came crashing down. Due to Mor Ardain being a desert area, dust was thrown into the air. As the dust settled, the silhouette of Zeke could be seen standing back up.

"Not bad chum" Zeke rushed from the dust cloud and slashed at Rex. Rex was unable to block the attack but luckily Nia activated her barrier in the nick of time.

"Not today Shellhead!" Nia snarked. "Get em Rex"

"Roger that" Rex charged at Zeke and the two continued to clash blades. It was clear though that Zeke had the advantage. His blade was so much larger than Rex's that engaging in direct combat was a bad idea. Rex was thrown back but a heavy swing of Zeke sword.

"What's the matter? Where's all that big talk from a minute ago?" Zeke smirked. It was clear he was enjoying this.

"We're only warming up you pompous Arse." Rex held his sword up into the air. "REDEMPTION" Rex healed off the damage he had obtained from the previous clash. The two drivers stood still staring each other down. It was at this time that a crowd had begun to gather.

"Masterpon, why people here!" Poppi asked Tora sitting on the sidelines.

"Perhaps the were drawn to the fight?" Dromarch said questionable.

"People of Mor Ardain want good show." Tora jumped up as he spoke.

"Well chum, looks like we better put on a good show!" Zeke remarked.

"Looks like the high mighty Thunderbolt Zeke really does draw a crowd. Here I come!" Rex charged at Zeke. "SABER SLASH!" Zeke struggled to guard the flurry of attacks coming his way. Their battle raged on for a good while. Both were hunched over struggling to breath.

"You're not bad *Huff* there chum…" Zeke struggled to speak.

"Thanks. You aren't, gha-, *Huff* bad yourself" Rex stood back up to the best he could. "Let's wraps this up"

"I couldn't agree more chum!" Zeke stood up as well. A yellow glow enveloped both drivers. The two drivers charged at each other. When their swords clashed everything turned white. When the smoke settled both drivers still stood. Rex and Zeke starred each other down. Neither flinching.

There was a thud.

Rex had fallen to the ground. He was completely unconscious. Zeke didn't move. He fell to his knees being supported by Pandoria. The two watched as Nia ran up and held Rex in her arms. Zeke closed his eyes.

"Our chum isn't half bad. For just a child he almost had me…" Zeke opened his eyes and saw Rex being thrown onto Dromarchs back as Tora and Poppi cleared out the crowd. "He's got a bright future ahead of him."

"My prince" Pandoria smiled. "Yea"

* * *

Rex groaned. His eyes struggled to open. He looked around the room he now found himself in. It looked to be the in. There at his bedside sat Nia. She seemed to be asleep. Rex smiled. ' _She must have healed me after the fight…"_ Rex closed his eyes for a second. He then opened them back up to see Nia staring deep into his eyes.

"Rex, you're awake!" Nia jumped up and gave Rex a hug. "You got beat up pretty bad."

"Yea, Zeke didn't hold back at all."

"You didn't do so bad yourself. After I healed you Zeke needed quite a bit of work as well"

"Well it's good to see I didn't lose by that much" Rex took solace in that fact.

"Zeke does have a lot more experience than you do. Not just in regular combat but also fighting other drivers. It's amazing it was as close as it was" Nia ushered for Rex to move over so she could slide into the bed. "It's late, so no one is gonna come looking for us."

"It's warm." Rex said. Nia blushed a little bit. "I could get used to not having to sleep alone. I never have to be cold." Rex closed his eyes and quickly fell back to sleep. Nia closed her eyes as.

"I love you Rex" With those words Nia quietly drifted into a deep slumber.

* * *

Morag walked into the inn her friends had found themselves in. It was quite early in the morning so no one had risen from their sleep quite yet. Brighid walked behind her mighty driver although she did try to be a bit quieter. Morag simply swung open the door to the guy's bedroom.

"It's time for training get up!" Morag yelled as she walked into the door. Tora, Dromarch, Zeke, and Azurda slowly got up if not reluctantly.

"Tora not want to get up...Tora tired."

"I agree with Tora. It's too *yawn* early to get up." Zeke yawned.

"You can thank Rex. If he wants to get stronger than he must train." Morag explained. "Where is Rex anyway?"

"Rex Rex in other room, he took real beating yesterday while fighting." Tora explained.

"Our chum and I had a good sparring match. We both took a real beating."

"So you too were the ones who dragged half the city out into the fields. They mentioned two drivers were fighting but I didn't think it was you two."

"In their defence, it was training." Dromarch tried to defend them. Azurda nodded in agreement.

"Very well than I shall go find him" Morag simply turned around and walked out. She made her way to Rex's room after getting the info of his whereabouts. "I shall be a bit more gentle this time. I don't know what Zeke did to him." Morag knocked once before opening the door. When she opened it up she was very surprised at what she saw. There was Rex laying in his bed. But that didn't surprise her. What surprised her was Nia. There layed Nia cuddled up on Rex's chest. Morag simply walked out the door and closed it, a blush streaming across her face.

"Lady Morag?"

"Perhaps Rex is not the child we *gulp* thought he was." Morag put her hand over her mouth as Brighid took a peek into the room.

"Oh my." Brighid turned to Morag. "Perhaps we should postpone training for now."

"Very well" Morag and Brighid went back to the guy's room to inform them that they were going to postpone training. Zeke was the most confused. But before he could question it, he decided it would be better to just go back to sleep.

Rex and Nia didn't awake from their slumber until at least another hour after Morag and Brighid dropped by. Rex had awoken before Nia. He didn't dare move. He was too happy in the position he was in. ' _Maybe I should spar with Zeke more often.'_ Nia began to shuffle awake.

"Oi, good morning *yawn*" Nia Yawned.

"Good morning Nia" Rex smiled as Nia began to pull herself out of bed, much to Rex's dismay.

"I think we should get moving, don't want people to get the wrong idea" Nia winked at Rex and made her way outside. Rex didn't quite get what Nia meant at first. When it hit him he blushed and ran out the door after her.

* * *

Due hope everyone enjoyed. Don't forget to leave a review to let me know you are still enjoying the story.


	5. Chapter 5

The bright sun blistered over Mor Ardain. Rex and Nia made their way out of the inn to where there friends had gathered. They were currently discussing their new course of action in terms of training. There was no rush to the world tree. After Morag spoke it over with his majesty, Mor Ardain was trying to work with the Praetorium to place a blockade around the world tree. This in turn would discourage Torna from attacking. If they did attempt to go up the world tree then the blockade would ether defeat them or give the party enough time to swing into action. It was strange though. These still were only talks. It would take some time to implement them. Morag informed the party of these talks. This helped to boost morale among the party.

"So where do we go from here" Rex questioned.

"Rex Rex not know? Then Tora not know" Tora was clearly frustrated at the lack of direction.

"It's obvious we aren't prepared to take on Torna with our level of skill." Morag chimed in.

"I think heading back to the Garfont for training would be a good idea. It would be the perfect place." Rex explained.

"That's in Uraya correct. That means we'll need to charter a ship to Argentum then Uraya." Brighid realised.

"Me and Morag can handle that right!" Zeke wrapped his arm around Morag much to her dismay.

"Morag and I" Morag corrected as she lifted Zeke's arm off of her. Morag began to walk off with Brighid with Zeke and Pandoria trailing behind wanting to be included. It was clear that Morag didn't want his help but didn't have the heart to tell him so.

"Shellhead is something else ain't he."

"Tora find it much amusing" Tora was bouncing up and down. "Tora bored now. Tora perform maintenance on Poppi" Tora stopped bouncing and made his way back into the inn. At this point what was left of the party split up. Nia went with Dromarch, Azurda also went with them as he had begun to enjoy chatting with Dromarch. This left Rex all by himself. He wandered around the city for a fair bit. He felt lonely. Normally he would've had Pyra to keep him company. Sadly though she wasn't around anymore. He still had Nia, but he couldn't just rip her away from Dromarch. Rex decided he was only bumming himself out so he would go back to the inn.

* * *

Rex decided that he would take a dunk into the hot springs. Rex made his way upstairs and removed his salvager suit. He did leave his trunks on just cause he didn't like going in nude. Rex dipped in and felt the warm water envelop him. His eyes flicked open and closed until he drifted into a nap.

The sound of a door opening and closing awoke the young hero. His eyes slowly opened as he looked up. It was hard to make out who was there. Once the figure got closer he gasped. There stood a completely nude Nia. She didn't notice him at first but when she did, she immediately dipped into the water.

"Rex!? What are you doing here!?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?!"

"The guys time ended!"

"Wha-, I must have been sleeping longer than I thought. I'll let myself out." Rex began to rise out but Nia grabbed his arm.

"You um, don't have to uh, go…" Nia was clearly nervous. Her face had become bright red. She let go of Rex's arm and sunk into the water. Rex's blush spread across his face as he sat back down into the water. The duo sat in silence. Neither had the courage to speak up. The tension was getting to them both.

"Nia"

"Yes Rex?"

"I, um, uh-"

"Spit it out Rex, before I change me mind and kick you out"

"You're really pretty…" Rex was having trouble looking Nia in the eye.

"Rex…" Nia was blushing harder than ever before. "I guess you got a good peak before I got in" Nia had a devilish smile grow across her face. She always enjoyed teasing Rex.

"So what if I did" Rex knew Nia was teasing him so he decided to tease her back.

"You're gonna have to take responsibility now." Nia began to shift towards Rex's side of the hotspring. Rex was taken aback. He had never seen her be so bold. Nia got right up next to Rex. Both of them bright red. She placed her hand on his chest and began to lean in.

The sound of a door could be heard opening. You could hear discussion between two women. It was Morag and Brighid.

"Why are Morag and Brighid here?" Nia whispered while trying not to freak out. Nia and Rex's heads were frantically turning back and forth. Rex jumped out of the water and leapt off the edge. There was a ledge that Rex was hiding on as Morag and Brighid walked out of the changing rooms wrapped in towels. Unlike Nia they made sure to where their towels until they got to the spring.

"Ah Nia, I've been wanting to speak with you." Morag sank into the water alongside her trusty blade.

"Really" Nia was on edge for obvious reasons. Brighid could see the tension on her side of the spring.

"Relax, it's not an interrogation." Brighid chuckled a little. Nia tried to relax a bit as she slid into the water trying to relax. She had to stay natural or otherwise they might know something is up.

"It's about Rex...I was wondering, what kind of relationship do the two of you have?" Morag questioned. Nia was taken aback.

"W-what makes you ask that?"

"Well I went to wake up Rex this morning for training" Morag explained. The color drained from Nia's face. "I found a little guest in his bed" Morag then began to look down. "I didn't realise you two had that kind of relationship" Morag began to make gestures with her hands. This gestured indicated more sexual activities then what Rex and Nia actually did.

"N-no you have they wrong idea. We're together but we don't do that." Nia was basically jumping out of the water.

"I s-see, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." Morag was clearly embarrassed. Then she froze. "Are you sure about that" Morag raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I have my doubts whether your telling the truth…" Morag leaned back against the wall. "Seeing how Rex is right over the ledge there I imagine you two were enjoying a nice bath together." A loud thud could be heard from where Rex was hiding before he climbed back up.

"You've got the wrong idea! I just fell asleep and Nia came in not knowing I was in here."

"You don't have to defend your relationship, no matter how lewd." Morag and Brighid wrapped up their towels and made their way out of the hotsprings. Rex and Nia only sat there, both were as red as ever.

"You think she's gonna tell the others?" Nia asked.

"I don't kno-"

"WHAT! REX REX AND NIA ARE DATING!?" Tora could be heard yelling in the distance.

"I think she told em" Nia concluded.

"I hadn't noticed" Rex sassed.

* * *

"So our chum has finally become a man eh?" Zeke questioned.

"Why friends not tell Poppi and Masterpon?"

"We just never got around to it" Rex explained

"It kinda started back on our last trip to Fonsett. We wanted to keep it on the down low until after we saved Pyra...But then you know…" Nia explained. The room went silent after that.

"Well then, who are we to bared them any longer" Brighid stood up and everyone followed suit, choosing to follow Brighid's example. Everyone cleared the room only.

"So I guess it's all out there now ain't it. Feels good for them to know." Rex said.

"It's not like we were trying to hide it."

"I mean, you didn't want people seeing you in my bed so, maybe a little."

"I just didn't want them to see think we were doing sexual stuff!" Nia blurted out.

"Oh that makes sense. I don't think I'm quite ready for that kind of stuff." Rex nodded his head as he spoke. "Of course if you wanted to I wouldn't say no!" Rex was waving his arms around in a nervous freakout.

"Haha, it's ok Rex, I'm not ready for that kind of stuff ether." Nia made her way over to Rex. "I'm just gonna use you as a pillow for now ok?" Before Rex could respond her head was in his lap. Rex stared down into her eyes and the two simply smiled. There was no need for words to convey their feelings. The pari remained like that until they drifted into a light slumber.

* * *

That's chapter 5 guys. Sorry it was a little bit late but I've been studying for finals. Make sure to leave a review so I know you still enjoy it. Hopefully the next part will be up by the end of Friday.


	6. Chapter 6

The day came for the party to leave Mor Ardain. The party boarded the ship that would take them to Argentum. Although relations between Mor Ardain and Uraya it still wasn't possible to go directly from one titan to the other titan. If one could go directly they could shave days off the journey. The ship pulled out of the port with the party all cooped up inside. Rex could be seen gripping the core crystal on his chest almost like it hurt. Nia almost said anything but refrained to avoid bring up painful memories.

Being out on the cloud sea for long periods of time was always draining. There is little to see besides clouds, clouds, and oh yea more clouds. There was also the world tree. It towered over the boundless cloud sea. Although something was off about it. The dark green it once was had slightly lightened. The shade of green had shifted, yet most people didn't bat an eye. Rex had been the only one to notice. This could be because he had spent almost his whole life watching it. Looking for a way to Elysium.

"The world tree, it's lighter than before…." Rex explained. The party turned to look at the tree.

"Is Rex Rex sure? Tora not see difference." Tora struggled to see what Rex saw.

"You know I kinda see it." Pandoria sided with Rex.

"It's subtle but there has been a shift in it's hue." Brighid added.

"Why would the blasted tree change. Maybe it's too cold for it." Zeke theorized.

"It's not a bad theory, plants change with the climate." Azurda agreed.

"I hate to interrupt this fascinating chat about plants or whatever but don't we have more pressing concerns to talk about?" Nia butted in.

"Nia's right. We should be focussing on our strategy on how we are going to beat Torna." Morag sided with Nia.

"Has there been an sightings since the battle on the cliff Morag?" Rex asked.

"No. His majesty says he will send word if they are spotted." Morag explained.

"That's old news. What we should talk about is how to beat em, in case you forgot we've lost out aces in the hole. Granted not even Mythra could beat Jin…"

"Tora have idea!" Tora started jumping up and down as the entire party turned to him. "What if Tora and friends hit him really hard" Tora made a pose to show how proud he was of his amazing idea.

"Masterpon, maybe you should try harder…" Poppi frowned. "Or at all Masterpon."

"P-Poppi! Poppi not supposed to diss Masterpon." The entire party laughed much to Tora's dismay. The conversation didn't go much from there. Just like all previous talks, the party still had no idea. After that the gang dispersed to different parts of the ship to try and pass the time. Morag and Zeke talked about possibly sparring once the reached their destination, but these weren't really talks, it was more like each one was insisting they could beat the other and then denying any chance of losing. Morag had built herself up as this mature adult but Zeke had a way of bringing her maturity down to his level at times.

Tora, Dromarch, and Azurda we're all hanging around talking about how they each groom their fur respectively. Poppi had very little interest in this so she decided to hang out with Brighid and Pandoria who weren't talking about anything in particular.

Nia went to track down Rex who had made his way onto the balcony outside. He was now gripping the crystal on his chest again. His breathing was also very heavy compared to what it usually was. Nia couldn't help but notice this. ' _I've got to say something this time'_ She thought to herself.

"Rex?" Nia spoke. Rex visually jumped back at hearing her voice. He almost looked afraid for a split second. He immediately let go of his chest and tried to look natural. His unsteady breathing wasn't helping though.

"H-hey Nia, what's up?" The shortness of breath was only more noticeable when he spoke.

"You ok Rex? You don't sound good."

"What do you mean *huff* I'm fine"

"Rex...It sounds like you can barely breathe." Nia put her hands on her hips as she scolded him. Rex was taken aback by Nia's sudden scolding.

"W-whaaat, pft, noooo." Rex was not very good at lying and if anyone could catch him in the act, it was Nia. Rex jerked back for a second, it looked to be out of pain. He winced.

"Rex! Rex are you ok!"

"I'm fine, I told you, I should probably rest though." Rex pulled himself back up and made his way back into the ship. Nia had no doubt something was wrong. Rex wasn't talking though. The only thing she could do was ask the others if he had said anything to them. She doubted it though.

Nia made her way back inside to discuss it with the others. She didn't have any luck asking Tora, Azurda, or Dromarch. Next she tried Morag and Zeke. He hadn't said anything to ether of them but Morag had noticed him grabbing his core crystal earlier. She didn't have much hope left. When asking the female blades Brighid and Padoria didn't have much ether. Poppi seemed to have noticed anomalies in Rex's breathing patterns. Nia already noticed that but she wanted to make poppi feel special so she thanked her thoroughly.

* * *

The night settled in and each party member had settled into their respectful room. Nia laid in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She twisted and turned back and forth for what felt like hours. She longed for Rex. But she didn't want to disturb him in his weakened state. ' _Maybe I can try to heal him.._ ' Nia made up her mind and got up.

She tiptoed through the ship trying to find Rex's room. After peaking into several rooms she finally found Rex. His room was still light. Nia slowly opened the door to see Rex sitting on the bed, still holding his chest. Rex looked up to see her and smiled. Nia smiled back as she closed the door. She sat down next to him and placed her hand on his chest.

"Rex, I know your hurting. Let me heal you."

"I didn't want to worry you…" Rex explained. Nia placed her hand on his core crystal and began to use her powers. She wasn't sure if it was working but Rex's face became visually at ease. Nia smiled as she began to stop the healing. "Thanks Nia" Rex's breathing had calmed as he plopped down on the bed.

"What exactly was wrong?"

"I'm not really sure. I've had this pain for a few days now, but it had really gotten bad today." Rex had made his way into sleeping position.

"Well no need to worry about it now" Nia cuddled with Rex. Nia always enjoyed these moments. It was always so warm and cozy. Rex held Nia in his arms as they fell asleep.

* * *

The mighty titan ship pulled into the dock. The party unboarded and took in their surroundings. The Argentum trade guild. They had a few hours before their connecting ship arrived. The party choose to settle outside the inn. It wasn't as bad but Rex had begun to grip his chest again. Nia took notice to this as did the rest of the party. Rex reassured them that with a little healing he would be fine. Nia began to heal him once again. Afterwards the party went on with their daily lives. Rex began to talk with Tora and Poppi in her QT mode.

"Tora want to give Poppi new form. New super powered form!"

"Wow Tora. I didn't think Poppi could get more powerful."

"Tora's scientific brilliance show no bounds!"

"Masterpon should not boast so much."

"P-Poppi, Masterpon thought we went over this, Poppi not supposed to criticize Masterpon." Tora mumbled once again. Rex laughed at the two.

"So what will make this new form so powerful?" Rex asked.

"Tora not really sure. But Tora have name! Poppi QTπ! Tora think of it while deciding whether to jump into water!"

"Poppi disappointed at new name origins…" Poppi sighed. Rex laughed once again. The trio continued to talk about this new form of Poppi. Once it got close to when their ship was supposed to leave the party traveled back up to the dock to board their ship. It was late afternoon when the ship left. The plan was to land in Fonsa Myma and travel to Garfont.

* * *

Sorry this chapter came out late I got busy. I'm not gonna give a specific day for when the next one will come out. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed and make sure to leave review so I know you guys are still enjoying it.


	7. Chapter 7

The group had been on board their ship bound for Uraya for several days now. They were nearing the end of their journey with only a few hours left to go. The party had been a little on edge. So much time had been spent on ships trying to get to Uraya. The day was almost over, although the sun was still out. The party would not arrive until after night fall.

Zeke and Rex had found themselves standing out on the balcony staring out onto the cloud sea. The sun's light shimmered upon the clouds. The sun was slowly falling beneath the clouds. It was truly a beautiful sight. This view was only one you could find while out on the cloud sea as the shinned all around you.

"So chum, you and Nia eh." Zeke gave Rex a cheeky grin.

"Yea, it's pretty crazy, it all happened so fast."

"Are you guys even the same age? We all thought that before but now that we know she's a blade, I'm not so sure."

"Huh, guess I never thought about it. I'll have to ask her next time I see her"

"Well you obviously can't ask, it's rude to ask a lady her age, besides if she is older, you'd have a women most people would on-AH!" Zeke was cut off by Pandoria pulling his ear.

"I think we're gonna need some context here my prince" Pandoria was clearly angry.

"Well most men only dream of dating an older wom-AH!" Zeke was cut off once again by the pain coming from his ear.

"I think the two of us need to have a conversation about human decency!" Pandoria started dragging Zeke off.

"Help me Chum Please!" Zeke was begging Rex who only waved back. "This is why I like Turters better than Yo-" He was cut off by the door slamming shut behind them. Pandoria could be quite the terrifying blade. She didn't seem like it at first but she was quite rough on Zeke, but it was clear that they both cared about each other. Rex turned back to the cloud sea as he leaned on the railing.

A door could be heard opening from behind him. He expected it to be Nia. She had been really worried about him lately. Since they had gotten on board the ship she had to heal him several times to keep the pain from his chest at ease. He turned around but Nia wasn't there. Instead stood Poppi in her alpha mode and clearly distressed.

"Oh hey Poppi, I wasn't expecting you." Rex gestured for Poppi to come over next to him as he turned back to the clouds. Poppi walked up next to him and watched the clouds.

"Poppi worried about Rex…" Poppi just looked out. "Why has Rex been in so much pain, when Rex in pain Poppi in pain to…"

"Poppi…" Rex knelt down and placed his hands on Poppi's metallic shoulders. "I'm gonna be fine Poppi. I'm sure it's just an old wound or something that hasn't healed." Rex wasn't sure what to say so was lying straight through his teeth.

"B-but Nia is best healer of all! She would have healed wound long time ago!" Poppi exclaimed. Rex was taken aback by Poppi's rage. Rex pulled Poppi into a hug.

"You caught my bluff I guess. I haven't a clue what's wrong with me. But we've been through worse." Rex closed his eyes. Poppi's embrace tightened. She really was like a little girl sometimes. Rex cared deeply for her and respected her a great deal.

"Rex promise Poppi he be ok?"

"I promise Poppi, nothing is gonna happen to me." They hugged for a few more moments before releasing the hug. Poppi went back inside leaving Rex alone on the balcony. The sun had set behind the clouds at this point.

* * *

The mighty titan ship pulled into Fonsa Myma. The party unboarded and swiftly made their way out of the city. Having the special inquisitor of what most people considered the enemy nation tended to bat a couple eyes.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience everyone" Morag siad once they left the city. The rest of the party assured Morag that there was no problem. The inside of the Urayan titan was beautiful at night. The inside was showered in an orange light. A lot of the plant life shinned orange as well as orange light particles rain down from all angels.

Garfont Village was in a more secluded area. The party had to travel through the stomach before they could reach their destination. Garfont was located between the stomach and the head. There wasn't much reason to go to that area of the titan unless you were going to said village.

The party walked through the entrance to warm welcomes. Rex had to leave the party temporarily to handle some paperwork. Being the leader of the mercenary group came with certain responsibilities. He was lucky to have Roc there to help him out. Lately Roc had taken a back seat to fighting and choose to help run the mercenary group. He even lead a lot of missions to.

The rest of the party spent time catching up with everyone. The mercenary group had been doing really well under Rex's leadership. They had gotten to the point where they were better than when they were back under Vandhams watch. It wasn't easy to break the news of Pyra and Mythra's death. It was decided that a funeral would be held in the middle of the village. It wouldn't be as grand as Fan la Norne's but it meant a lot to Rex that the everyone wanted to have it. It would take a few days to put together but with Yew and the others planning it, Rex knew that it would be special.

Rex had spent a good chunk of the night going through paperwork. Being away a lot meant that it added up. Yew and Zuo did their best to do what they could but there were some things that the leader had to do. The two had been instrumental in allowing the Garfont Mercenaries to succeed. They got new members all the time due to their expanding reach throughout Alrest. Once Rex had finished all the paperwork Yew and Zuo had asked him to come down to the training grounds. They wanted to see the recruits in training to see their leader in action.

Rex quickly tracked down Nia who had been sipping on some tea with the others. He explained the situation to her. At first she was against the idea. Since Rex was in the condition he was in and they didn't know why, she felt fighting was a bad idea. Rex even had to take a break during his work for a round of healing.

"Nia please. This is something that I have to do. It's my responsibility." Rex pleaded.

"I don't think it's a good idea, we still don't know what's going on with you."

"Nia" Rex made a pouty face.

"Fine but if I think it's too much I'm calling the fight. Deal?"

"Deal!" Rex's face was pure joy. Rex and Nia made their way down to the training grounds where Yew and Zuo now stood. Yew held his megalance and Zuo held his greataxe. Both stood there with confidence as the new recruits watched in awe. They had only heard of Rex's strength but never seen it.

"We'll be nice Rex, we'll let you pick your opponent." Yew explained. A grin crept across Rex's face.

"It be a shame for the recruits to only see one of you in action." Rex swung out his blade as blue energy shot through it. "I'll take you both on!" Rex got into a battle stance.

"Rex don't you think you should pace yourself?" Nia grew worried. Both Yew and Zuo got into battle stances.

"Very well. That's are leader for you! Pay close attention recruits! Prepare to see the power in Numbers!" Zuo yelled.

"More like be prepared to see how strong I really am!" Rex yelled.

Yew charged in first. He attacked Rex with a barrage of attacks. The flurry of attacks was hard to block. Rex could see why he was one of Vandhams right hand men. Rex made a heavy slash at Yew knocking him back. Before he could rush him though Zuo rained down from above with a heavy blow. They weight of his greataxe pushed Rex back when he countered it.

"It's easy to see why you guys were Vandhams right hand men!" Rex said.

"Call me impressed. That double attack tends to knock out most of our foes." Yew complimented.

"There's a reason why you were chosen, even with your age." Zuo said.

"Well let me prove it to you even more!" Rex charged at his opponents. He first rushed in to Zuo who had a long activation time with his attacks thanks to his heavy weapon. Rex made a hard slash at him that was blocked by Zuo's blade. Zuo was visually knocked back, by a good few feet even. The viewers merely awed.

The rest of the party had made their way to the sidelines at this point. It wasn't everyday to see Rex having so much fun in a fight. One had to keep in mind Rex wasn't always a fighter. He used to be your average salvager, only fighting when he had too.

Yew rushed in on Rex and swung his megalance down. Rex dropped down with it to give himself more time to block it. Rex was now on his back holding his sword up keeping the megalance at bay.

"Give up Rex?" Yew questioned.

"You kidding? I'm just getting started!" Rex swung his legs at Yews and knocked him over freeing himself. It was at this moment that Rex noticed a greataxe flying at him. Rex lept back as the weapon landed where he once was. It was at this point that all three drivers had a golden aura to indicate that max affinity had been gained with their blades.

"Already here comes the big one!" Rex swung up his sword and began charging his attack. Yew and Zuo got into a defensive stance. They both knew this attack was gonna pack a punch. "Take this!" Rex began to charge and swing his blade.

Then he stopped. Rex stood dead in his track. The affinity aura had disappeared and everyone stared. Rex didn't move. Then he gripped his chest and fell to his knees. He was in so much pain. He began to scream in anguish. Then all color in his eyes faded and he dropped to the ground.

"REX!" Nia ran as fast as she could to him. Everyone else wasn't far behind. Everyone stopped in their tracks. The color on his core crystal. There was only a little bit of green glowing in the center. The rest of it had turned black. This wasn't something that Nia could heal. That's why her healings on had limited effect. They had simply been numbing the pain. Rex's or one should say Pyra and Mythra's life force was running out.

If they didn't think of something, Rex would die...

* * *

This was probably my favorite chapter to write so far. Like it felt like the words were just flowing out. Anyway make sure to leave a review if you enjoyed it. I really hope you guys are still interested because stuff is starting to go down.


	8. Chapter 8

Much of Garfont sat in suspense. Their leader was on the brink of death. He had been holding his own more than well against Yew and Zuo. He might have been able to finish the fight with that last attack had he been able to get it off. The party had rushed Rex to the inn. Nia was using her powers at maximum to at least try and slow down to effects. At the very least she seemed to have eased the pain. His sleep had steadied and the party left the room, excluding Nia.

They all sat around in a circle. It was clear that they had no idea what to do. They hot beverages they had been given simply sat on the table. They would probably get cold before anyway would have the will to drink them.

"Who would have predicted these events?" Morag sighed.

"I never believed that the lost of Pyra would also affect Rex in this kind of way." Pandoria said.

"It makes sense. Rex and Pyra shared a life force. She had given him half of her life after Jin killed him." Brighid explained.

"Even so, we can't lose our chum as well." Zeke explained.

"Tora not want to lose Rex Rex ether…" Tora struggled not to cry.

"Rex promised Poppi Rex would be ok, Poppi not know what to do…" Poppi was trying even harder not to cry. Before anyone could start crying there was a loud boom. It came from the entrance of the village. The party shot up to see a purple aura slowly walking up.

It was Malos.

"Well well well. It looks like our paths have crossed again." Malos said as he continued to walk through Garfont. All the villagers cowered in fear and hid. "Tell me where's the boy? I'm here for him."

"You should be worried about us first!" Zeke charged at Malos. He jumped up and slashed down. Before he made contact though and energy beam came out of nowhere and knocked him out of the way. "What!?"

"Sorry but we can't have that." Akhos walked out from the shadows.

"Akhos!" Now it was Brigid's time to charge but before she got there artificial blades rained down from the sky and surrounded her. "Grrr!" She began slashing at them. It was at this moment Tora rushed in with a spinning cutter to knock them away from Morag. "Thank you Tora"

"Tora save friend Morag!" Tora was proud of himself.

"Stop wasting our time and hand him over!" Malos yelled.

"What's with your new found obsession with our chum Rex?" Zeke questioned.

"Don't ask me, ask Jin." Malos responded. "I simply do as Jin commands!" The party got into battle formation and prepared to fight.

* * *

Nia watched as her friends got thrown around by Malos and Akhos. She wanted nothing more than to go help them but she needed to focus on healing Rex. His condition had not improved at all. She didn't know what to do.

"Rex please you need to get up!" Nia pleaded. She continued to flash back out the window and the party continued the fight. There seemed like there was nothing they could do. "Rex they need us! Please tell me what I need to do! Please Rex! Rex my love get up!"

Everything went white. Nia opened her eyes to see herself standing in the middle of a grassy field. She turned back and forth. There were trees in the distance. She could also see building far off as well. Her attention was then drawn on a lone figure. She stood next to a tree looking out over the distance. She had long blue hair and what looked like silver armor.

"Hello? Do you know where I am? I need to get back to my friends!" Nia yelled to no response. Nia ran up to get closer. "Hello I'm talking to you" Nia was starting to get annoyed.

"Hello there." The figure turned around to face Nia. "I am Pneuma. But that's not what you know me as is it Nia?"

"That voice, Pyra? Mythra?!" Nia was so confused. "How are you still alive?"

"That's where you are mistaken my dear friend. I am no longer a living being. I am simply a memory that sleeps within the dying core on Rex's chest." Pneuma explained.

"About that? Do you have any idea on how to save him? I can't lose him, we can't lose him….I love him." Nia pleaded.

"Nia, do you love him more than your own life?" Pneuma asked.

"I, I do. He's my whole world. I would do anything for him." Nia said.

"Very well. You have the power to save him. But if you do, there is no going back. You two will be forever bonded" Pneuma explained.

"I'll do it! Whatever it takes!"

"Then I shall help you!" Pneuma yelled as blue light emerged from her core crystal.

* * *

The party was taking a real beating. Malos continued to barrage Zeke with attacks. Meanwhile Morag was doing her best to deflect all of Akho's shots. She couldn't get close due to all the artificial blades raining down on her. Tora just tried to focus on crowd control but he was severely outnumbered.

"This ends here!" Akhos let out a power shot at Morag. Morag had no time to react before it made contact. There was an explosion. When the smoke began to settle Morag opened her eyes. There stood Nia back in her driver form who had deflected the attack.

"Sorry I'm late! Got a little caught up!" Nia wielded her twin rings with a smirk. Dromarch could be seen near by providing ether to Nia's weapons.

"Nia, what about Rex?" Morag questioned.

"Don't worry about him. He's gonna be fine. He just needs some time! Now come on! Time for some payback time!"

"Yea!" Zeke yelled. Pandoria and Zeke's affinity reached its max and a golden aura enveloped them. Zeke charged electricity through his blade and charged. At the same time Tora and Poppi had reached their maximum affinity and rushed in at Malos.

"You're all pathetic weaklings!" Malos yelled. His purple aura exploded withe energy as he raised his sword. "Monado Cyclone!" Gusts of wind shot out in all directions knocking away both Zeke and Tora with ease. "You are nothing compared to an Aegis!"

"Maybe you should watch from above!" Nia came flying in from above and swung down her weapons. Akhos raised his bow to shoot down Nia.

"I don't think so!" Morag sliced at Akhos and deflected the shot causing it to miss.

"When we you learn!" Malos raised his sword and easily deflected the attack. "You are nothing!"

"Wha!" Nia was thrown way back. "H-how is he so strong?"

"It's because he is an Aegis. An Aegis without the restriction of a driver!" Akhos walked down and over to Malos. "You have no chance against the two of us!"

The party regrouped a fair distance away. Most of them were breathing pretty hard. Morag was the best one off as she hadn't taken a direct blow form Malos. Zeke on the other hand had taken multiple and was struggling to stand.

"Once I finish off you worthless trash I'll find the boy and bring him to Jin!" Malos began charging an attack. A strong purple light shot in all directions. "I'd say it's been fun, but it really hasn't." Malos began to bring down his sword but then stopped.

"Malos!"

Malos turned to see where the voice came from. There standing before him was Rex. But there was something different about him, the core crystal on his chest. Not only was there the green center, but it was surrounded by blue and purple making up a complete Aegis core Crystal. Rex summoned Nia's blade weapon and Nia turned to her blade form.

"What! What did you do?!" He turned to Nia to that part of her core crystal was gone. It looked as someone had cut off the part that had come out of her chest. It was now flat. "Nia!" Malos charged at Nia and slashed down at her. In the blink of an eye Rex was there deflecting the attack. Malos jumped back.

"Malos! Today is the day you die!" Rex raised his blade. The affinity bond instantly reached its max and Rex and Nia began to glow golden. But it was different. When a driver and blade reach this level of affinity they are granted a calm golden aura. Here it was different. Rex's Aura flared to life in a violent explosion of energy.

The people of Garfont could see this. Rex's display of power gave them hope. They readied there weapons and began to fight off the army of artificial blades. Rex stared down Malos. Neither flinched for a second. Akhos fired off a shot at Rex causing an explosion. The smoke settled to show Rex hadn't flinched.

"Everyone! Malos is mine! Take care of Akhos and those artificial blades. Now Attack!" Rex screamed.

"Oh Yea!" Zeke Yelled.

"Tora fight hard!" Tora yelled.

The party split up and began the attack. Rex simply walked toward Malos. It was this slow walk that caused Malos to grow angry. Rex's aura continued to explode with energy, as did Malos'. Rex raised his blade. It began to glow as well. But it didn't glow gold. Half the blade was enveloped in a red fire. The other half was shrouded in light energy.

"So you've combined the power of an Aegis with the power of a flesh eater. It's no matter I'll destroy you! There will be nothing left of You!" Malos exploded in rage.

"I was wrong…" Rex said. "I claimed to be over their death. But I was only fooling and Mythra, they gave me half their life. I felt like I owed them, I didn't accept them. They said they loved me before they died. I didn't feel the same. I felt guilty. But now I realise. They knew, and they only wanted me to be happy. I'll always grieve their death but I'll keep fighting with Nia by my side. I'll avenge them. I'll crush you into Oblivion and make it to Elysium!"

"Come at me boy!" Malos yelled. The two charged at each other clashing swords. Each blow sent shock waves throwing everybody down. It was clear that this battle would be a war of attrition.

"I won't lost to you anymore!" Rex swung down his blade and fire shot out of it. The fire surrounded Malos. Malos raised his sword to blow it away.

"Monado Cyclone!" Malos blew away the flames. At this moment Rex came flying down from above swinging his blade. Malos raised his to counter. When they made contact light energy shot out of Rex's sword causing Malos to be thrown back.

"You can't beat me Malos." Rex began to walk towards Malos holding his blade out to his side. Malos took a step back but then two forward. Rex's eyes flared with energy. The it happened. It was very brief but the aura that surrounded Rex shinned blue for a second. Malos saw this and turned around.

"You aren't worth my time. Akhos! We're leaving!" Malos yelled. Akhos jumped next to Malos and Malos created a dust storm for them to disappear in. The remaining artificial blades fled the scene as well.

"You're not getting away!" Rex began to give chase but his stamina had reached its limit. Rex tripped and landed on the ground. Nia ran up to make sure he was ok. He smiled at her. "Thank you Nia for everything! I love you!" Rex smiled and closed his eyes to rest. The battle of Garfont drew to a close.

* * *

I wrote this and the last chapter back to back. They ended up being the two longest ones too. I really got into them and I hope they came out well. Make sure to leave a review so I know things are still going well!


	9. Chapter 9

The entire village of Garfont had gathered around in the center of town. They sat in rows all dressed in mostly black. Today was the day of Pyra and Mythra's funeral. There wasn't a body to barry so there was no coffin. There were two paintings one on each side. One of Pyra, and one of Mythra. The party sat in the first row. There was no holding back the tears. This was their time to grieve before the upcoming battle. Azurda lead the service. Many people had spoken at the funeral. Most of the party members had a chance to speak. Zeke was the first to speak.

"Pyra and Mythra were our good chums. I didn't know them as long as most of you I'm sure. The two girls were something else. One stubborn as a nail, the other as gentle as a fly. But yet you could see the two affected each other and the other one would come out. You both will be missed." Zeke made his way back to his seat to a gentle applause. Dromarch was the next to.

"Most blades when they perish return to their core crystal. They get to live on eternally, each time being reborn into someone new, no memories, and no previous life. Wether you find it a blessing or a curse, the chance for Pyra and Mythra never came. The life they had was stolen away from them. Unable to be reborn, unable to create new memories. You two left us too soon" Dromarch also had a quiet applause as he sat down. Brighid then made her way up.

"Long ago, my old self along with Mythra served in the Aegis war on the same side. Who would have thought that we would end up together once again, fighting against a common foe. Although we started as enemies we soon joined forces. You shall always be friend." Brighid sat down. Zeke tried to get Pandoria to speak but she couldn't. So instead Morag stood up and went to speak.

"The power of the aegis was feared by many. It was even feared by the aegis herself. I myself once feared the power of the aegis. I fought against her several times. Her and her friends, no, my friends always found a way to win. I have nothing but respect for both her halfs." Morag sat down. Nia walked up.

"Pyra and Mythra were my best friends. They meant a lot to me. It hurts knowing they're gone. It really does...I know I could've done more. But...But yet...I couldn't it. It my job now to keep fighting on. Not for myself, not for my driver, but for my friends. The ones I lost, and the ones I still have." Nia sat down. Tears were in her eyes as she sat down. Rex wrapped his arm around her to comfort her. After a few moments passed, Rex stood up.

It slowly walked up, all eyes on him. He was their leader. It was his job to inspire. The pressure was on for him to give a good speech. He didn't hesitate though. Pyra and Mythra we're the two most important people to him besides Nia.

"So here we are. None of us could have predicted this. The most powerful of blades, the legendary Aegis herself, our good friend, taken away. Even though they are gone, they are still helping keep me alive." Rex gestured to the inside part of the crystal on his chest. "Then, the very monster who did it marched in here and tried to pick a fight with us. We wouldn't stand for that, so we fought back, and we showed them a thing or three. We aren't going to let these monsters run around doing whatever they please. We're going to take Torna down ourselves! For Pyra and Mythra!"

Everyone stood up and cheered. "For Pyra and Mythra!" The applauds we're loud. It was clear Rex had succeeded in his speech. There was a loot of work to be done. It was unclear if the mercenary group would get directly involved in fighting involved. This would not be decided until later on. Since they weren't involved with the military they weren't sure if going against Torna would be ok, the military could be against the idea of a third party getting involved.

The funeral at this point was mostly just people talking amongst themselves. Many of them came up to rex to give him their condolences. It meant a lot to Rex knowing that so many people cared about Pyra and Mythra. The mercenary group was like a family, they looked out for one another.

* * *

Rex sat inside the inn. He was gripping the core crystal on his chest. He was just thinking, Nia had done what Pyra did long ago. She gave up half of her life to save his. How many people were going to have to make sacrifices for him. Pyra gave up half of her life, then she gave up her freedom to protect him from Jin, she would have killed herself to keep him alive. Rex's face grew bitter. It wasn't fair for everyone. It's not like Rex could just walk out though. He couldn't do that to Nia, or any of door creaked open and Nia made her way inside.

"Hey Rex, how are you feeling?" Nia asked referring to his modified core crystal.

"I'm not really sure. It feels like I have all this power, just rushing through me ready to explode. I never felt like this before." Rex explained.

"That's weird. Drivers aren't supposed to have access to power unless their blade is providing power."

"This is a completely different power then before. The power, the power we used against Malos, I could feel it. It was only growing, we hadn't reached our limit."

"Our you saying we can beat Malos!?"

"I don't know, I could tell Malos wasn't using his full power though. So I can't say for sure how our power compares."

"Could this new power, be because of mine and Pyra's cores mixing together?"

"This power, it's like a flesh eater Aegis."

"A...Flesh eater Aegis?"

"It's crazy, your's and Pyra's power mixed together. It unleashed so much power." Rex gripped his chest. "I'll use this power."

"What will you do with it?"

"I'll use this power, the power to protect. I'll protect everyone I have left. Gramps, Dromarch, Morag, Brighid, Zeke, Pandoria, and you Nia. I'll protect you Nia." Rex stood up and walked to Nia. He grabbed her hand. "Nia, I'll fight for you you, because you're worth fighting for"

"Rex" The two leaned in for a kiss. This was their most passionate kiss yet. After several minutes of kissing the two broke. "Rex, I love you!" She then reached to the crystal on Rex's chest. "Knowing that I'm helping keep you alive, well, I can see why Pandoria feels so happy helping Shellhead."

"Thank you Nia, I know it wasn't fair for you to have to do this for me. But I'm glad you did, because it allows me to stay with you. I won't die again, I won't let you die!" The two began their passionate kiss once again. They had made their way to the bed. The two stayed in each others embrace. This would be the night, the two became one.

* * *

The party had gathered outside the inn the next day. Rex and Nia could be seen holding hands, they seemed to be much more open of their feelings then they had the day before. Once the entire party had gathered they went on to discuss their plans.

"I think from here we need to rendezvous with the blockade. With Malos being so bold to attack us here could be a sign that they are getting ready to ascend the world tree." Morag explained.

"That's a good plan. We can leave by lunch. I still have a bit more work to take care of around the camp before we can leave" Rex replied. With that, everyone waved him off and he left. The rest of the party didn't stick around long. It was eventually just Tora and Zeke with their respective blades.

"By the way Zeke, Tora have question." Tora said.

"What you need Tora?" Zeke asked.

"Tora heard strange noises last night."

"What kind of noises?"

"Well Tora heard weird squeaking sound from room next door. Tora also heard what sounded like moaning. Tora was quite worried but too scared to see what it was."

"Huh" Zeke began to think to himself. ' _Must have been some lovey dovey couple next door to him'_ "Say Tora, do you know who was settled in next to you?"

"Yes yes, Tora know who, it was Rex Rex and Nia!" Tora began to jump and flap his arms and wing things.

"OH MY GOD! Our chum had done it!" Zeke fell down onto his rear end. Pure shock on his face as he looked at Rex far off in the distance. Pandoria just as shocked all though quieter slowly dragged him away.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed. Sorry the release schedule is so sporadic. With school and work my free time to write has been very limited. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.


	10. Chapter 10

Rex spent the rest of the morning doing busy work around the village. Not every duty of the leader was spectacular. It did have its downsides. He never complained though. He loved every minute of it. He loved carrying on Vandham's legacy. He looked up to the man after all. Once Rex finished up his work he and the others gathered up their stuff and we're getting ready to head out.

It went unnoticed by Rex but Zeke was staring him down the entire time. Zeke had a look of so many mixed emotions on his face. This however did not go unnoticed by everyone. Morag had taken a notice to it and decided to approach Zeke.

"Zeke? You seem quite interested in Rex? Why is that?" Morag asked.

"I'm not sure if you'd believe me if I told you, if I didn't know all the facts I wouldn't believe it myself…" Zeke responded in a low voice.

"Try me."

"Well I was talking to our friend Tora over there" Zeke gestured to Tora who was examining Poppi. "He told me something very interesting, all though he doesn't realise it himself."

"Well what does that have to do with Rex?"

"Allow me to explain. Tora said he heard some very interesting sounds coming from Rex's room last night."

Morag stepped back, her face growing somewhat pale. "W-what kind of sounds?"

"Well let's just say he wasn't alone last night. He had a, let's say partner in crime, if you catch my drift."

"Morag put her hand on her chin for a moment. She was still trying to put all the pieces all together and then it clicked. "You don't mean…"

"That's right, our chum over there along with his special gal Nia performed quite the adult acts last night. He's become a man!" Zeke had grown much louder to the point where several people were staring at him. Morag had become bright red at the thought.

"R-Rex and N-Nia, since when did they have that kind of relationship?" Morag was trying to cover her bright red face.

"From what I can deduce, last night was the very first time. If you remember they were much more relaxed with their relationship this morning. Not as embarrassed. I think that's the reason why…" Zeke had his hand on his chin as he watched Nia approach Rex and the two began to chat.

"My my, when did you become such a detective my prince" Pandoria appeared out of nowhere with a mocking look on her face.

"Ah Pandy! The blast do you keep doing that!" Zeke jumped several feet away from Pandoria. "How long have you been listening?!"

"Since try me" Pandoria explained.

"That's basically the whole conversation! Why don't you just join the conversation if your so curious!" Zeke yelled. Morag simply watched at the whole ordeal, not shocked at the twos bantar at all.

"I think we need to have a talk about that attitude my prince" Pandoria had a devilish smile as she began to drag Zeke away.

"Morag please! Help me! Not again please!" Zeke cried for help. Morag simply turned away a sorry smile on her face as she waved him off.

* * *

The party had gathered outside the entrance of the village. Most of the population had gathered to see the heroes off. They could very well be heading off to the final battle. There really wasn't anyway to tell what would go down. Any one of them could very well not make it back. The party began their long trek back to Fonsa Myma. From there they would head for the Argentum trade gild and then take an Ardanian vessel to the blockade.

They journey to Fonsa Myma took a few days on foot. This was nothing new for the party as they had made this trek several times now. When the reached Fonsa Myma it was only a few hour wait until their ship was ready to set sail. The trip would last almost a week if you added up the entire journey.

The mighty titan ship sailed across the cloud sea. The world they all lived in was a magnificent beauty, but the treks between titans was always a chore. But you know you had to take the good with the bad. Rex didn't mind the ride most times. He enjoyed just staring out into the cloud sea. He spent a lot of time alone on these trips not because he desired it but most of the party prefered to stay inside.

The rest of the party sat inside, most of them had positioned themselves around a wooden table. There were several chairs and couches that they all found themselves on.

"Tora can not wait to show friends new surprise!" Tora exclaimed.

"What you going on about fur ball?" Zeke asked.

"Tora and Daddapon have done much great work as of late. While Tora and friends in Garfont, Tora hard at work with plans developed by Daddapon!"

"Really? What are these plans for?" Dromarch asked

"That is surprise! Friends will have to wait" Tora yelled.

"Shame, make sure you tell our chum Rex about it too, don't want to count him out." Zeke added.

"Speaking of friend Rex Rex, why does Rex Rex not sit inside with friends?" Tora asked.

"Rex likes to watch the cloud sea, not sure why but hey, we all have our hobbies." Nia answered.

"Tora see Perhaps Poppi can engage companion mode and keep Rex Rex company." Tora decided.

"Roger roger Masterpon!" With that Poppi made her way out of the room.

"Companion mode? What does that mean?" Zeke asked.

"Well that complicated. Poppi tends to get a bit clingy when in companion mode. Simply designed to keep friends company, but still a bit experimental. Poppi goes into maximum blushey crushey mode..." Tora explained.

"I don't know how I feel about it, are you saying Poppi is gonna try and...you know…" Zeke tried making gestures with his fingers but nobody could understand what he was trying to say. "Whatever, just forget it." Zeke then began pouting in his seat.

* * *

Rex watched as the cloud sea rolled by the mighty titan ship. He often did most of his thinking here. He enjoyed the quiet but he was never against company. He never complained though because he knew the rest of the party prefered to relax inside. The door could be heard opening from behind. This made Rex quite happy as he always prefered company. He turned around to see Poppi QT behind him.

"Hello Poppi."

"Hello Rex, Poppi here to keep Rex company, thanks to Poppi's amazing companion mode!" Poppi struck a pose which made Rex laugh.

"Thanks Poppi, I appreciate the company."

"No problem!" Poppi got right up next to Rex. They spent a long time out there. Talking about all kinds of things. To foods they liked to battle strategies. Poppi began to lean on Rex after awhile. Rex although surprised didn't stop her. "What will Rex do after fighting is all over?"

"I u-uh, don't really know I guess. Probably go back to salvaging." Rex frowned at the thought.

"Rex seems unpleased with that answer. Does Rex not want to go back to salvaging?"

"I don't really know, I always thought that's what I would do with my life, but, now I'm a driver, me. I have these amazing friends, how could I go back to salvaging?"

"Poppi not know what future will be like, but will trust Rex to make right choice." Poppi still in her QT form gave Rex a peck on the check. "Poppi hope Rex find his answer soon." With that she went back inside, leaving Rex a little confused.

"Huh, that was strange. Not bad but, strange." Rex said aloud. He didn't think much of it and went back to staring at the cloud sea for awhile.

The journey on the titan lasted for a couple of days. They would eventually reach Argentum. Here they would swap ships and head for the world tree to meet with the blockade. Rumor had it that the Urayain army would be meeting with the blockade. These were only rumors though as the big wigs had refused to mention whether it was true. The party was able to get on their second ship without any trouble.

The second titan ride was not eventful at all. Nothing noteworthy happened while on board. The journey lasted another several days. The World Tree came into view. Around it sailed a mighty blockade. This consisted of mostly Mor Ardain and Indoline titans. There were a few Tantalise titans but the country had yet to develop its military. The party would make their next move from within this mighty blockade.

* * *

Sorry this one took as long as it did. It's been a week since the last time I updated this but better late than never. Hopefully I can find room around school and work to update this. All the reviews I get for this are always inspiring. They really help keep the fire lit to write.


	11. Chapter 11

The titan blockade was quite massive. Even more massive was the mighty titan that acted as the so called mother ship per say. It was at least one and a half times the size compared to the other titans. The party had arrived at this massive titan several days ago. After discussing recent events with the commander the party now sat inside the war room. Inside this room is where planning took place for military attacks and battle strategies for war.

The room was dimly light. A large table stood in the center of the room. The party sat around it. There wasn't a lot of talking going on. There wasn't much that could be done without Torna acting up. The party was still reluctant to scale the world tree. Without them there Torna could cause some major damage.

"Gah! All this silence is driving me wack!" Zeke snapped.

"Show some restraint my prince, learn to read the mood, there's kinda a lot of tension right now if you haven't noticed." Pandoria now annoyed explained.

"I think I'm with Zeke on this one, we aren't getting anywhere just sitting here, we've been cooped up in here for days…" Rex added.

"Tora tired, Tora just want to eat tasty sausage size of Poppi!" Tora danced flapping his wings.

"Well we can't just go rushing into anything, Jin and Malos are still hanging around somewhere. I'm willing to bet they could show up any day now." Nia gave her point on the matter.

"It seems we are quite divided on this matter perhaps we sho-" Morag was cut off by the sound of a large explosion. The party ran out of the room and onto the deck. "What's going on!?"

"T-there, Torna ship inbound!" An Ardainian soldier responded as he pointed out into the distance. A massive black ship approached the blockade at a relatively quick speed given its size.

"Jin…" Nia said quietly.

"Alright what's the plan chum?" Zeke asked.

"We got to find a way onto that ship!" Rex explained. They all began to look around. The titan ship to the side and below began to pull out. "There, we can catch a ride!" The party ran toward the edge. With one leap they made the jump over the gap that separates the ships. It was a bit of a fall and the group definitely felt it.

"Not your best plan there Rex…" Nia sat up from her fall rubbing her back.

"Tora perfectly ok, Tora have Poppi carry Tora to ship!"

"Carrying Masterpon is no problem for Poppi" Poppi made a proud pose.

"Well we don't exactly have a Poppi to carry us now do we." Zeke groaned as he laid on his back in pain. The party groaned a little bit longer as they healed up and rose to their feet. Several other titan ships were now inbound for the Torna ship.

"Once we get close we got to board that ship! If we can sink it from the inside then we may be able to stop a lot of the casualties." Morag explained.

"Sounds like a plan, Tora, Zeke we'll cover you the best we can, you two get below deck and bring that thing down!" Rex yelled over the now raging wind.

"Roger that Rex Rex!" Tora yelled. There were about half a dozen titan ships on a collision course with the Torna war vessel. Neither side was firing shots.

"Something isn't right…" Brighid thought aloud.

"You're right, they aren't even trying to attack us." Pandoria agreed.

"Do you think it could be a trap?" Dromarch asked.

"Everyone be on your toes! Whether it's a trap or not, this is our chance!" Morag chanted. The Torna ship stopped. The titan ships continued their approach and began to diverge. They began encircling the ship. There was now a titan ship on every side of the Torna ship. The party sat in suspense. Choosing to wait, expecting a trap.

A figure appeared on the deck. Jin dressed in his black attire appeared from the inside of the ship. He tilted his head and stared Rex right in the eye.

"Jin!?" Rex yelled, but Jin didn't respond. In a flash an army of artificial blades swarmed around him and out in every direction. The party as well as the soldiers ready their weapons. The titan ships began to focus their fire on the swarms of blades that soared all around them. In a flash Jin disappeared from the party's vision. He reappeared directly in front of Rex, delivering a powerful punch to the young driver. Rex was sent flying but caught himself mid air pulling out his blade and igniting it.

"Let's take him down Rex!" Nia ran to Rex's side. Zeke, Tora, and Morag began to charge at Jin. Then their path was blocked by an energy blast. They stopped in their tracks to see Akhos, Patroka, and Malos stood across the deck.

"Well doesn't this seem familiar?" Akhos chuckled.

"Akhos now isn't the time, just get them!" Malos yelled and charged for the party. He swung at Zeke who only barely managed to deflect it. "Impressive, for some human trash." Zeke was struggling to keep Malos at bay.

"Why thanks" Zeke began to slide back. Zeke bounced his blade to give him some breathing room from Malos. Meanwhile Tora and Morag were just trying to keep Patroka and Akhos at bay. Akhos was firing shots at the two, Tora was blocking them with his drill shield while Morag and Patroka went at it.

"Why come here, why now!?" Morag questioned Patroka.

"It's really quite simple, anyone with a brain could figure it out!" Patroka mocked.

"Tora not understand what bad guy mean." Tora blocked another shot from Akhos off in the distance. He was growing quite tired, only the Architect knew how long they could keep this up.

"Didn't Malos mention it the last time you guys chatted?" Akhos questioned firing off another blast.

"What!?" Morag looked around. She eventually locked her focus on Rex who was trying to fend off Jin "Rex!"

Rex was being thrown around like a rag doll. He could barely touch Jin. Rex and Nia's affinity chain was at a standard blue. They were struggling to get it up as Rex was missing most of his attacks.

"He's a tough one ain't he?" Rex was panting. "Darn! If only we could get that power boost from when we fought Malos!"

"That sure would be nice! You're the one with that fancy crystal on your chest! Wish you knew how to use it!" Nia snarked at Rex.

"Pathetic!" Jin slashed at Rex knocking him to the ground. "You're supposed to be driver and blade? What a joke, over here bickering like a pair of children!" Jin was clearly angry. Rex jumped up barely stopping Jin's attack. Jin took another slash getting Rex's arm.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Rex screamed and clenched his arm. "Why are you doing this!? You can't possibly beat an entire blockade and get to the world tree!" Rex questioned.

"We aren't here for the world tree fool!" Jin began a flurry of slashes. Rex was pushed further and further back. Rex fell. His body refused to move. "We're here for you." Jin smacked the side of Rex's head with his blade, merely knocking him out.

"REX!" Nia yelled. She ran as fast as she could to rex. Jin using his incredible speed appeared before her knocking her back. Jin walked over to Rex and picked him up. He propped Rex on his shoulder and in a flash was gone. He had appeared on top of the Torna ship.

"Everyone! We've got what we came for!" Jin yelled. Malos, Akhos, and Patroka all jumped back from their foes. The jumped onto the ship next to Jin.

"Guys! They have got Rex!" Nia yelled.

"WHAT!" The rest of the party yelled in unison. They all began to charge but were quickly blocked by mountains worth of artificial blades. The Torna ship began to sink beneath the clouds. The artificial blades all swarmed beneath the clouds with the ship.

"NOOOOOO! REX! REX DON'T LEAVE ME!" Nia screamed as she tried to give chase. She was stopped by Morag and Zeke who grabbed her before she jumped off the ship into the clouds. Torna was long gone, with a captured Rex with them. "Rex! *Sob* Rex…" Nia couldn't control her sobs. He tears were rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably.

Rain began to pour down over the damaged vessels. The artificial blades had done quite a number on the titans. The party had been beaten down. They had lost their leader. And Torna had gotten away from them, once again.

"Rex Rex…."

"Chum…"

"Rex…" Morag sighed.

"Rex…" Nia continued to cry, now into Dromarch's fur. She had been completely useless in the fight she felt. If only she could have activated that power, instead of blaming Rex. The rain continued into the night, it didn't seem like it would be ending anytime soon. All they could do was pray Rex would be ok.

* * *

I'm sorry this took so long. Honestly I'm a little self conscious about this chapter. With how busy I have been with school and work it doesn't feel like I put enough time into this. Leave me a review telling me your opinion, hopefully it turned out good and the wait for the next chapter won't be as long as this one was.


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